Use the questions on the webquest sheet to guide your research into the historical and social context of the novel. The following websites and study guides have been provided to help you search efficiently. For each answer you give, provide a minimum of two to three sources for your answer - you need to write a response in your own words and verify your answer by using multiple sources of information.
Use the questions on the webquest sheet to guide your research into the historical and social context of the novel. The following websites and study guides have been provided to help you search efficiently. For each answer you give, provide a minimum of two to three sources for your answer - you need to write a response in your own words and verify your answer by using multiple sources of information.
Contextualising the novel
The Plague
The following websites and the ppt presentation to the right are on the 'Black Death', an earlier outbreak. They are still useful to understand the nature and symptoms of the disease:http://www.boisestate.edu/courses/westciv/plague/
http://historymedren.about.com/od/theblackdeath/p/blackdeath.htm
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/middle_ages/black_01.shtml
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/plague.htm
These websites focus specifically on the great plague of 1665, the outbreak that forms the basis of Year of Wonders:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Plague_of_London
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/plague.htm
http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/contagion/plague.html
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/lesson49.htm
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/plague/plague.html
The great fire of London:
http://www.britainexpress.com/History/great_fire.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Fire_of_London
Plague in the village of Eyam
http://www.beautifulbritain.co.uk/htm/outandabout/eyam.htmhttp://www.eyamplaguevillage.co.uk/
Study Guides and Resources
Discussion on 'Enough Rope' with Geraldine Brooks:Review of the novel
'Annus Mirabilis' by John Dryden:
ebook complete text
audio files of the poem
Reading and Responding Activities